#350 Rosalia Mera

Helped then-husband Amancio Ortega make gowns and lingerie in their home. That business eventually became $6.7 billion (sales) Inditex, an apparel manufacturer that also owns Zara retail stores. Though the two divorced years ago, Mera still holds a 7% stake in the group. She also got $600 million in cash at the time of Inditex's public offering, which she has invested in a variety of holdings such as a Spanish film production outfit, a marine fish farming group, a company that is looking for cancer treatment in compounds found in the sea and a maker of a fingerprinting identification system for newborns. Mera is also president of the Paideia Foundation, which helps people with physical and mental disabilities.